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Samsung Galaxy S III

Overview

Some in the mobile industry are calling Samsung’s Galaxy S III a game changer. In many respects it is for camera users. The Galaxy S III, with its innovative photo-sharing technology and digital still camera-like features, is tailor-made for casual point-and-shoot photographers. While its image quality isn’t perfect, its improved camera performance over the Galaxy S II illustrates how mobile companies continue to sharpen their focus on enhancing image quality.

The S III’s 8-megapixel camera places it among the top tier of smartphone cameras. To date, its quick autofocus leads the industry in speed and accuracy. The device also reproduces rich colors, especially in outdoor conditions, for both still images and video. Its flash is also praise-worthy, helping users snap well and evenly exposed photographs in dim lighting. But the S III is not perfect, it is tripped up in low light where it loses details, its auto-exposure wobbles, and its colors can looked washed out. The mobile’s video also suffers from strong noise in low lighting. It is also susceptible to the jello effect and jumpy stabilization.

Photo

DxOMark Mobile Photo

73

Exposure and contrast

75

Color

76

Autofocus

81

Texture

63

Noise

64

Artifacts

77

Flash

81

Pros

Colors are bold and vibrant in outdoor conditions.

Superbly accurate and smooth autofocus.

Excellent flash excels at producing stable images.

More advanced photographers will appreciate the versatility of the S III’s manual exposure settings.

Cons

In low light, there is a loss of details due to an over correction for noise.

Auto-exposure is strong in most cases, but it can struggle in indoor low light conditions and in challenging outdoor lighting (like bright gray sky).

Slight color shading noticeable in different lighting illuminants.

Colors can be a tad washed out in low light environments.

Video

DxOMark Mobile Video

71

Exposure and contrast

88

Color

83

Autofocus

61

Texture

59

Noise

59

Artifacts

85

Stabilization

48

Pros

Accurate and intuitive video autofocus.

Nice detail preservation in bright lighting.

Rich and vivid colors.

Cons

Noticeable oscillation in autofocus.

Stabilization does not manage to compensate for walking motions.

Strong noise in low light environs.

Slight jello effect is noticeable.

Further readings for the Samsung Galaxy S III

To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.

Although this model adopts the same PureView technology as the vaunted 41Mpix Nokia 808, and the more recent Nokia Lumia 1020, this slim-line model has a camera with a much more modest 8.7-Mpix CMOS sensor, yet retains the classy Carl Zeiss lens. Read on to see how well it fares against its siblings and rival offerings.